just read this and wanted to share with you all
sorry if someone had already posted it.

http://www.webupd8.org/2012/04/valvle-works-on-steam-for-linux.html

Good for them, though good luck convincing game makers to port their previously released games to that OS for less than a 2% slice of the pie and unless they seriously improve Windows emulation, there is only so much wrapping and cracking they can do.

It is much easier creating the game with multiple OSes in mind to begin with than to retrofit them to work on multiple OSes.

+ 1 rep .

I know of at least one person that will go crazy over this at the Steam forums.

This is going to be primarily beneficial for gamers who happen to use Linux, as opposed to Linux users who happen to play games, if that makes sense.

Plus there's always the option that they are taking a first step to a Steambox.

Not too many existing games have been ported to the Mac since Steam:Mac was released either, have they? Valve's source games, sure, some indies, and a handful others through Cedega/Wine. I'd wager the Linux ports will be pretty much the same ones.

Very cool.

I wouldn't mind gog branching out in the same way, especially since they get compatibility of a lot of their games with Linux/Mac for free via DOSBox; they just need to package them differently.

I Don't use/like Steam but this deserves respect.

I I have this correct, those MacPlay copies are always free with the windows one, right? If that would be the same with linux, I might just put linux on my netbook.

SteamPlay titles supports both platforms on one purchase, yes. (And it's SteamPlay, not MacPlay, the latter has nothing to do with Valve or Steam)

And Valve's Steam will become a monopoly . :(

Yes, and this is usually when the game is released as a multi-platform game. However, not all games that have versions on Windows and Mac are Steamplay titles, since the Mac version is sometimes ported by a third party company with their own rights to distribution on that platform. For example, Bioshock on Steam is Windows-only, at $20, but it can be purchased from the Mac app store for $30.

I could see a similar situation for Linux games.

Quit trying to stir up shit.

It's true that a lot of users of *nix (you must remember that Linux is only a component of the wider GNU system, there is no such thing as a "Linux user") are anti-DRM. This is because anti-DRM sentimentality comes hand in hand with free software mentality. I belong to both camps but I'm not really orthodox.

I do make the exception for Steam. I use it despite it being proprietary software (of which I use free alternatives only when possible and viable, I'm not Stallman) and it being DRM. The reason for this is that the positives simply outweigh the negatives. Much like with Google's privacy implications, their feature set is simply too good and I will let them get away with murder.

DRM is also often incompatible with good *nix development conventions. In *nix, applications are encouraged to work in synergy with eachother enabling the creation of a flexible, persistent API that everybody can access. Most DRM will ignore that convention, be independent and will essentially sit there on the hard drive skulking in the corner.

But in the end, DRM is just software, there's no need to skirt around it just because of your choice of operating environment. This is one of the reasons why we have a problem; people still think Linux is an operating system. It isn't, it is a kernel; a component of the (by convention) GNU system. Developers don't need to think about creating "a game for Linux", they just need to be platform agnostic and the best way to do that is to release your goddamn source code and let us take care of it.

Developers need to learn that there is no profit to be made from their code. There is no threat to their game's integrity. There are absolutely 0 negatives. If you're a good developer you'll create a good engine that is clearly separate from and useless without your assets (see id Tech 4). You don't even have to support a source release; John Carmack has given 0 fucks about his code releases, we, the public, took care of it, built our own documentation and went to town in our own way.